“Julyan Stone is a impressive multiple player. I don’t want to call him a point guard because he’s a 1-2-3 (point guard, shooting guard and small forward) and probably could get away with guarding some small forwards,” Casey said.

“He has been impressive at that position (the point), just because of his flexibility that he gives us, especially at the defensive end. He can guard those little quick guys, his length bothers them. I thought he did a good job the other night against (Minnesota’s J.J.) Barea with his length, and he could be making a case for himself.”

Stone, who caught the eye of Raptors president/general manager Masai Ujiri when they were together in Denver, was nearly signed earlier in the summer, before a knee injury scuttled his physical. Now, he’s getting closer to full health, though perhaps not as quickly as he would like.

“It’s going great, (but) it’s a process, that’s the first thing you have to understand, that, mentally you’ve got to get everything back and I think I’ve gradually got it back,” Stone explained.

“I think I’m doing well, (but) I think I’m far from where I need to be and far from being back to the caliber I am, but I think I’m doing a good job of gradually getting back to where I need to be.”

Stone is in the gym twice daily working out, along with his on-court work.

He feels he’d be a good fit with these Raptors, echoing Casey in his explanation why.

“I can do everything on the court in terms of guarding three positions, cause matchup problems if I’m at the one and defensively I can guard all positions, taking pressure off of our scorers,” he said.

Swingman Terrence Ross said Stone also helps his teammates because he is so in tune with what Casey is looking for defensively.

“He’s really versatile, he can do a lot of things,” Ross said.

“(Plus) he knows like all of the defensive schemes, so it’s fun playing with him.”

Stone is aware he’s in a battle just to make the team, but his long-term goals are much loftier than just doing that.

“I’m not a guy happy being the 15th guy on a team, not playing,” he said.

“I’m a guy that wants to be in the rotation, making a solid impact.”

RAINING THREES IN RAMA

This year’s edition of the Raptors intends to be far more dangerous from outside.

That won’t be too difficult, since the 2012-13 squad was among the NBA’s worst shooting the three. On Monday at the annual intra-squad scrimmage at Casino Rama, the Raptors were firing away.

Terrence Ross nailed five three-point shots, including three in a row and said afterward he is feeling more comfortable now that he is in his second year.

“Yeah, I’m knowing what shots are easier to take, what shots aren’t, still learning through it, (but) I feel confident,” Ross said.

Steve Novak was brought in to be automatic from deep and after a slow start, Novak began to swish open looks. Others followed suit and Landry Fields even hit another three.

Fields once was a dangerous shooter from outside before that part of his game completely vanished. If he can become a threat again, he’ll be a nice cog for the Raptors.

Casino Rama gave the MLSE Foundation a $100,000 donation, plus whatever the 1,000 or so fans on hand donated to get in.

Dwane Casey said he hoped his team gave them a good show.

“We have so many great fans in this area ... I think it’s great for the whole country and great for the Raptor brand to make sure we get out amongst the people and see everyone,” Casey said.

And the team benefited as well.

“I thought we got something out of it as a whole. If anything else, some conditioning after some days off, but we still have a ways to go, definitely with our turnovers, our spacing, timing offensively, which we kind of knew would be a little bit behind because we went so much on defence (in practice).”

“Julyan Stone is a impressive multiple player. I don’t want to call him a point guard because he’s a 1-2-3 (point guard, shooting guard and small forward) and probably could get away with guarding some small forwards,” Casey said.<